In the affluent south London borough of Wandsworth, the average resident earns more than £52,000 a year – above the national average – and pays less council tax than any area in England.
However, many of the borough’s residents will receive £100 payments under a new scheme from the Government to help cover the cost of soaring energy bills.
The Household Energy Payment, unveiled by Chancellor John Healey in his first Budget on Wednesday, will be paid to 20 million households in England within council tax bands A to D.
How much could scrapping gas standing charges save you?
Chancellor John Healey has announced that standing charges on gas bills will be scrapped from next year as part of his Budget.
The announcement is part of the Government’s “cost control framework” to drive down energy bills.
What are gas standing charges?
Gas standing charges are a fixed daily fee you pay for being connected to the gas network.
You are charges this regardless of how much gas you actually use – even if you go weeks without using any at all.
Under the current energy price cap, the average gas standing charge is 29.68p a day for households paying by Direct Debit, or £108 a year.
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What’s the catch?
- It’s important to note that scrapping the standing charge does not mean scrapping the costs it currently pays for – so the price will need to be reflected in bills elsewhere.
- Those costs will instead be moved onto the price you pay for each unit of gas.
- This means some households may see lower energy bills, while others may not notice and others may see an increase
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How much could you save?
- Only six in ten households will see the £45 drop, according to the Government.
- But whether you see a drop depends on how much gas you use, as standing charges will instead be incorporated into normal gas prices.
- Essentially, the less gas you use, the more likely you are to benefit.
- If you use more gas than most, you could see your bill increase.
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What the Budget means for your money
Chancellor John Healey has delivered his long-awaited first Budget, with a raft of changes announced. The measures include a U-turn on a planned cut to cash ISA allowances, £100 in energy support for some households, and extra taxes on banks.
Sale of nicotine products to under-18s banned in Scotland
Under-18s will be banned from purchasing all nicotine and herbal smoking products in Scotland under tougher laws being introduced to protect children and young people from smoking.
What will change?
- It will be illegal for under-18s to purchase pouches, strips and pearls, and any herbal products that can be smoked.
- Anyone selling nicotine products will have to hold a valid registration, so authorities know where products are being sold.
- Vending machines can no longer stock such items.
- Substantial discounts on nicotine products will also
be banned.
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What have health officials said?
“By banning the sale of these products to under-18s, the Scottish Government is taking a crucial step in protecting people’s health,” said public health minister Maree Todd.
“This in turn is helping people across Scotland to live longer, healthier lives.”
Scotland’s chief medical officer Gregor Smith said the changes “will help reduce
the health harms associated with nicotine
addiction and address health inequalities”.
The four snowballing crises Putin refuses
to acknowledge
Vladimir Putin believes victory over Ukraine is inevitable as his missiles pound the country with near impunity and US policy turns in his favour.
Yet Moscow is also showing signs of strain deep into the fifth year of war, with the Russian leader facing mounting problems at home and on the battlefield.
1. Russian battlefield gains stall
Russian forces have made effectively
zero progress on a series of failed offensives this year, according to the latest analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington, DC.
While Russian officials claimed that they had seized 6,500 square kilometres since the start of the year, the ISW put this at closer to 73 square kilometres, and since September the Russians had lost 240 square kilometres.
2. The manpower problem
Russia’s poor battlefield situation has come at the cost of around 40,000 casualties per month, the heaviest losses of the war, according to estimates.
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3. Energy drain
Even as Russia escalates attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid for a fifth winter,
its own fuel sector is buckling under a relentless campaign of Ukrainian drone strikes.
- Every oil refinery in western Russia has been hit during this campaign, taking out between one-third to half of the country’s refining capacity by different estimates. Only five refineries remain untouched, according to the International Energy Agency.
4. Economic decline
New budget proposals sent to Russia’s parliament this month show an ongoing transition to a war economy at the population’s expense.
Spending on defence is projected to grow to 7 per cent of Russian GDP, while ordinary Russians and small businesses face interest rates of 14 per cent and inflation that is approaching 8 per cent – pushing up prices for petrol and household goods.
Putin still believes victory is close
Despite the political and economic
pressures the Kremlin is facing, Putin thinks victory is close and is promising Russians the end is in sight, said Anna Matveeva of the Russia Institute at King’s College London.
“Putin is signalling to Russians that Ukraine is not going to hold on for very long, that the military campaign has been making good progress and that society just needs to hold on for a few more months,” Matveeva said.
The majority of the total £2.6bn funding allocated to the scheme is expected to go to those who need it most – the support will reach roughly 80 per cent of English households, the Government estimates, including 83 per cent of fuel-stressed households and 88 per cent of the lowest-income households.
Yet there are fears that some people struggling to cope with rising bills – such as long-time residents of properties in higher council tax bands, including pensioners or others in larger homes who may have a lower income than working professionals living in smaller flats – could fall through the cracks, while payments go to wealthier individuals who may need the money less but are living in properties banded long ago.
The decision not to means test the scheme, and instead roll out the payments regardless of household income, has been met with criticism and warnings from campaigners that the payments will “barely dent” the predicted price rises coming next year.
‘It’s going to get swallowed up quite quickly’
In the leafy, family-friendly Wandsworth suburb of Earlsfield, some residents said the government-funded £100 payments were “fair” but admitted that the money was unlikely to go far – and may not go towards bill payments at all.
Alison, a 50-year-old charity fundraiser who owns and has lived in a two-bed flat in a council block with her partner for over two decades, told The i Paper: “They’re threatening to put our council tax up here in Wandsworth. So, yeah, I suppose on top of that it does seem fair.”
Wandsworth’s low council tax sums
Council tax in Wandsworth is famously low; the annual sum for a band D property in the borough is currently £1,028.21, the lowest of the 33 councils in London and indeed of the 296 councils in England.
Just under a quarter (22.2 per cent) of Wandsworth properties are in band D while more than half of properties (58.4 per cent) in the borough are between bands A and D, according to the latest data from Council Tax Challenger.
However, recent reports have suggested Conservative-held Wandsworth Council was considering raising charges by up to 160 per cent next April.
Asked how she would spend the £100 payment, Alison said: “I guess I’d see it as going towards the energy bill, even if it went in the bank and I may not be able to draw a straight line between that and it going to my energy bill.”
Beth, a marketing manager who has lived in a three-bed house in Earlsfield since 2008 said the boost is “helpful” even if the help may not ultimately amount to much.
“Well it’s very helpful – it’s a contribution [but] I think for most of us by the time we get to December that’s going to be nothing,” she said.
“We’re lucky we’ve had a warm autumn so far, but I think as soon as it gets cold it’s going to get swallowed up quite quickly.”
Questioning the timing of the support, Beth added: “Obviously, everything is welcome… I just wonder if it’s a little bit like the horse has already bolted. Everyone’s energy bills are going up along with petrol and food.”
Gaynor, a 79-year-old retiree who has lived in her three-bed maisonette for 14 years, said: “I’m one of the lucky ones, because I bought when places here were cheap.”
Another retiree living in a three-bed, band D house admitted the £100 payment “will probably just go in the bank and be used for whatever is needed, as and when”.
Asked if they thought it was fair for them to receive the boost, they added: “I think so, but somebody has got to suffer for it. As long as it’s not being taken from a person who really needs it.”
What else do we know about the Household Energy Payment scheme?
The Chancellor had been expected to increase the Warm Home Discount, a one-off electricity bulls discount for those in receipt of qualifying benefits, by up to £100, but this was not mentioned in the Budget.
Instead, all 20 million households in council tax bands A to D – roughly three quarters of all residential properties in England, containing around 45 to 50 million individuals – will receive a one-off £100 payment intended to help cover rising bills.
The payments are expected to be distributed directly into people’s bank accounts via the council tax system from January 2027, with the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also set to receive a share of the scheme’s £2.6bn funding.
Payments will ‘barely dent’ predicted bill rises
Campaigners have warned the payments will “barely dent” the rise in energy bills predicted to hit UK households in January.
Energy regulator Ofgem’s price cap is expected to increase by at least 26 per cent in January, rising to £2,172 a year for a typical dual-fuel household, according to predictions by comparison firm Uswitch.
Currently, the cap – and the amount the average household pays is – £1,723, meaning bills will increase by an average of £449.
The £100 payment given to all households under council tax bands A to D should, therefore, nearly cover the £112 rise people will see in their bills over the first three months of the year, before the next price cap comes in next April.
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said Healey “talked the talk on energy bills, but ultimately failed to walk the walk”.
He continued: “Wholesale gas prices have tripled since February and bills are expected to rise further during the sixth winter of high energy costs.
“Yet the only immediate support is a payment that will barely dent the predicted rise households face in January. Because it is paid directly into household accounts in England, it may not even be spent on staying warm this winter.
“We know that the majority of the public are worried about their energy bills in January, but sadly today’s Budget will do little to ease those fears.”
The Chancellor said the £100 payments, coming alongside the other Budget announcements including the abolishment of standing charges on gas bills, would give British families “breathing space” on their energy bills.